Attorneys for former FBI Director James Comey requested a federal judge to dismiss the seashell threats case towards him, which is ready to go to trial in October, arguing that there was no precise risk towards President Donald Trump within the now year-old post.
After the Justice Department had tried and failed to convey a separate case towards the previous director, federal prosecutors targeted on a 2025 social media post from Comey of seashells spelling out “86 47.”
“Cool shell formation on my beach walk,” Comey wrote because the photograph’s caption.
The quantity 86 typically refers to tossing or eliminating one thing, and Trump is the forty seventh president.
In Monday’s submitting, Comey’s protection staff described primary First Amendment rights, arguing the legislation prohibits “the government from using criminal prosecution to silence political opposition”
“Because the indictment targets and chills core political speech and fails as a matter of law, it must be dismissed at this juncture,” his attorneys wrote.
Allies of Trump, together with these in control of nation’s largest legislation enforcement businesses, claimed final 12 months that Comey was threatening Trump’s life and the Secret Service was instantly tasked with investigating the seashells.
Comey’s attorneys say that to be a “true threat” beneath the legislation, Comey’s post would have wanted to talk a “serious expression” that Comey was going to commit violence.
“No reasonable observer who was aware of the relevant context would read the phrase ‘86 47’ to connote violence against the President,” Comey’s attorneys wrote. “But even if ‘86 47’ could implausibly be read to suggest violence, a reasonable observer would still understand Mr. Comey’s post as mere political hyperbole, not a true threat.”
Comey faces fees that embody making a risk towards the president and transmitting a risk in interstate commerce.
Shortly after his April indictment — which was introduced in North Carolina —Comey responded in a video posted to his Substack account.
“I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid,” Comey mentioned. “And I still believe in the independent federal judiciary, so let’s go.”